Apple pulls Alex Jones’ InfoWars podcasts for ‘hate speech’

Lucas Jackson | Reuters

Alex Jones from Infowars.com speaks during a rally in support of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump near the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., July 18, 2016.

Apple has removed five of Alex Jones’ podcasts from the iTunes and Podcast apps, as the tech giant cracks down on content exhibiting hate speech.

The company confirmed on Monday that it had removed five out of six podcasts, which includes Jones’ infamous The Alex Jones Show as well as a number of other InfoWars audio streams. The news was originally reported by BuzzFeed News.

Jones, a controversial conspiracy theorist who has claimed that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax, has been hit with other content bans from the likes of Google’s YouTube, Facebook and most recently Spotify.

Spotify last week pulled several of Jones’ podcasts, citing the violation of its policies on hateful content. Apple’s move appears to be the second decision by a major music and audio streaming platform to censor such content.

Apple’s move seems slightly more dramatic — the company has taken down entire libraries of InfoWars podcasts, rather than a select few episodes.

“Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

“Podcasts that violate these guidelines are removed from our directory making them no longer searchable or available for download or streaming. We believe in representing a wide range of views, so long as people are respectful to those with differing opinions.”

Tech giants have faced calls from both sides of the political spectrum to be more transparent about the way they approach content flagging and banning. On the left, there are critics who say these firms are not doing enough to take down harmful and offensive content, while on the right there are some who think internet firms are routinely censoring conservative posts.